An Apprentice Detective
by HalfCelticHalfWolf
Summary: Selena Owen, 22, psychologist, cyclothymic, aspiring detective, accompanied by companion Dave, meets Sherlock Holmes in the hope of becoming a helpful assistant and perhaps a friend. Puzzles, adrenaline, laughs and good company make for an exciting life. This story is dead.
1. Absurd People

**Auther's note: **This is the first chapter for this particular story which is really just to start building up and getting a picture of the character Selena. This is the first thing I've written so chill out and go easy on me and do let me know what you think and any possible directions the story could go in. I have tried to get descriptions as accurate as possible but it something seems wrong please tell me. Might be a good idea to read my profile, just to understand that I like to include weird things in stuff I write.  
>Sherlock does not belong to me, just so you know. I only take ownership of Selena and Dave.<br>Okay, I'll stop talking now. Enjoy :)

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><p>Selena tried to suppress the urge to fall asleep in the back of the taxi as her eyelids grew heavy. She'd been trailing around London since early this morning with a small suitcase and loyal friend Dave, searching for the address she had scribbled down on a small scrap of paper. It had grown dark; the city streets lit up by street lights, signs and the headlights of cars. Dave lay next to her in the cab. The large black Alsatian dozed off as Selena scratched behind his pointed ears. She didn't have much choice to bring Dave along with her as none of her family would keep him. They complained about his temperament and that it was no wonder he was sent to the RSPCA. As an ex-police dog he was bound to have a slight aggressive tendency – he just needed to be taught when it was and wasn't necessary. Selena committed to training Dave during the three years she spent at university and by her graduation, he had become a loyal, protective companion.<p>

Selena had never been to London before, so looking for a particular address on her own in the massive city certainly was a challenge. She thought she had done rather well considering that fact that she hadn't gone mental yet. She rolled her sleeve back and gazed sleepily at her watch. 8:45pm.

_Late, obviously, _she sighed, _Hope he doesn't mind too much._ After becoming extremely fed up of walking, Selena gave in and had a taxi take her to her destination.

_If he doesn't accept me then this would have been a waste of time and energy. _She dreaded to think about the possibility. Next to her, Dave looked up at her with his deep brown eyes, sensing the uncertainty in her mood.

The taxi slowed to a stop outside a cafe called Speedy's. "Here you are, duck," said the cab driver, rousing Selena from her daydream. She groaned as she forced her tired muscles to move. Opening the door, she beckoned Dave out of the cab who sat patiently on the pavement as she pulled her suitcase from the boot. Addressing the driver she said, trying not to sound as exhausted as she felt, "How much?"

"No charge, duck," he replied, "can tell you're not from round here." He smirked, amused by Selena's northern accent. He clearly had not met a Yorkshire woman before.

"Thanks, sir," she said with gratitude but not enough to overcome her annoyance. _And don't call me 'duck',_ she growled inwardly.

She turned to face a black door with the brass numbers and letter 221B. Checking her scrap of paper, this was indeed the correct address – 221B Baker Street.

"Argh, here goes nothing," Selena murmured under her breath, psyching herself up. Dave licked her hand in encouragement. She and Dave became unusually close that Dave seemed to be able to completely understand his friend.

Reaching for the brass door knocker, Selena knocked three times, her shaky hand caused the knocking to have no particular rhythm. The man she was supposed to be meeting sounded very intelligent and sophisticated after looking at his website and Selena felt nervous, though she wasn't entirely sure why. It seemed irrational, and she tried to calm herself by taking deep breaths, but it didn't do much good.

It felt like ages until someone finally answered the door. An old woman wearing a plum coloured blouse and skirt stood in the doorway with a cheerful expression, which made Selena feel a little more at ease. "Hello, can I help you?" The woman's voice was also cheerful, again calming Selena's nerves.

Selena stood like her mother had advised her years ago, in a confident stance and said, "Yes, I'm looking for Sherlock Holmes?"

"Oh, yes, he's upstairs" The woman retained her cheerfulness. _Must just be one of those cheery people._ _That's good._

The old woman led Selena into the house and up a flight of stairs, leaving her suitcase and Dave in the hallway. The walls were plastered with wallpaper with a leafy pattern. At the top was another black door that the woman opened revealing a room on the other side. It looked to be a living room and study, with a rather cluttered desk against the wall opposite. Two leather chairs were placed at far end of the room in front of a lit open fire. They looked extremely comfy, Selena had to suppress the impulse to curl up and fall asleep on one of them. Against the wall at the near end was a little sofa, with a small square coffee table in front of it with papers and a laptop on. Two large windows looked over the street on which Selena had just come from. A man in a white shirt lay on the sofa with his eyes closed and slapped what looked like a nicotine patch on his arm. _How many patches? _Selena thought, noticing the other two patches already stuck on his arm.

"You've got a visitor," called the woman in an almost motherly tone.

"Thank you, Mrs Hudson," replied the man. His voice was extraordinarily deep. Selena felt a shiver on hearing it – it had a very nice ring to it.

Mrs Hudson left and the man, who Selena guessed was Sherlock, sat up. His face was perfectly angular and he had dark wavy hair and eyes like pebbles but the colour seemed hard to distinguish – possibly blue or grey, or maybe a bit of both.

"You are late," Sherlock addressed Selena for the first time.

Selena began to feel slightly uncomfortable. Turning up late wasn't a good first impression. "Yeah, I'm sorry, it's just I got lost. Very lost," she hastily replied, determined to look interested in her purpose here.

A yawn managed to break through her barriers. Sherlock gave her a perplexed look. "Sorry...tired..."

He gestured to one of the comfy looking chairs by the fire and said, "Rest for a bit. You arrived in the middle of a case and I'm thinking. We can talk later."

Selena made her way to the chair, barely taking in what Sherlock was saying as she zoned out completely. She merely replied to his statement with "Mhm..." and collapsed into the chair. Sherlock fell back on the sofa again in thoughtful mode and didn't appear to notice Dave enter the room and curl up by the chair Selena dozed off in.

Grateful for a warm cosy place to sleep in, Selena ignored everything that had been troubling her on the way here, going through memories of things that had happened and the interesting things she had learned. Learning new and interesting things greatly appealed to her. Her mind could sometimes become very active and she'd become restless determined to find something to do that would stretch her brain to its limit. That was when she became interested in psychology; the workings of peoples' brains and minds and what caused people to behave the way they do. In finding explanations, one had to consider all possible factors from complicated genetics to the simplicity of watching and learning. Thinking about these things kept her entertained.

Then there were criminals, who in Selena's mind were especially fascinating. Were they just born that way, or did something happen to them to make them that way? Or maybe there was something dysfunctional that caused them to commit crimes? Asking such questions and thinking about all possible explanations allowed Selena to walk away from Huddersfield University with a first in a Psychology with Criminology degree.

What she did after that though was a slight problem. Her friends from the same course mostly decided to do something with the police force, which Selena was particularly attracted to. A friend's mother, who happened to run a veterinary practice, offered her a temporary job as a veterinary assistant until Selena found something that really caught her eye. When she was 15, she had a work experience placement at that same place. She watched and learned how to check an animal's health and the necessary procedures to correct any problems. That was how Selena learned best; observing, remembering and going through it herself.

It wasn't until she found the detective's website and became increasingly interested in his work that Selena decided to contact Sherlock asking if he could do with an "assistant". Looking back on it now, she did wonder if that was the correct word to use. Not that it mattered. He replied, she became overly excited, went to London, became nervous, and then fell asleep on his chair. Completely absurd, but absurd makes things all the more exciting and fun. Selena would only ever associate with those people that 'ordinary' people deemed to be 'weird'. Fun things always seemed to happen when they were around. Sherlock seemed like a rather peculiar guy now that she had met him, and Selena wondered what it was like in his company.

Many scenarios passed through Selena's thoughts, some filled with fear and adrenaline, others with puzzles and occasionally a good laugh. The scenarios soon faded into weird dreams of improbable things as the young psychologist with the Yorkshire accent and black dog Dave drifted into sleep.


	2. The Detective, the Doctor & the Domestic

**Author's note: **The second chapter! Much more interesting than the first. You may recognise some dialogue from the episode, just with a few alterations. I'm not going to do these note things on every chapter because that would just get annoying and tedious. They'll probably just be on a few of them.  
>Again, I only take ownership of Selena and Dave. Go ahead and start reading and let me know what you think.<p>

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><p>A growling sound from within her stomach woke Selena from her sleep. She had been dreaming of the time when she and her best friend from her school days were on a beach they regularly visited during their childhood. It felt like a completely normal dream at first, both of them playing around and having a giggle in the waves, except Selena's strange mind managed to somehow include an inflatable chair and a pot of yoghurt in the dream. After a good twenty years of putting up with weird stuff happening in her dreams, it became as normal as falling asleep itself. The yoghurt she could understand, as she did feel very hungry, but the inflatable chair? <em>Nope, can't quite put my finger on that one,<em> she thought, looking back over the subconscious events, _and I don't even like yoghurt that much._

The noise her stomach made must have been louder than she first anticipated, as she noticed the muscles in Sherlock's face form a subtle frown like something distracted him from "thinking". He was lying in more or less the same position except he clutched the arm with the nicotine patches on with his other hand. Selena looked at her watch again and gave a despairing sigh, far too dramatic for her liking, realising that she had only been asleep for half an hour. _This day is going so slowly!_

Selena shifted in the chair, burying her face in a pleasantly squishy cushion. From the bottom of the staircase, she caught the sound of the front door opening and closing. Selena assumed it was Mrs Hudson either going out or coming back in, since she wasn't aware of anyone else in the house. Sherlock gave a relieved sigh. Selena perked her ears at the sound and the footsteps coming up the stairs. When they stopped, she expected to here a feminine voice but instead the voice was deeper - evidently masculine. "What are you doing?" asked the man entering the room.

Selena lifted her head from the cushion to inspect the stranger. He appeared to have a limp in his right leg and carried what looked like a crutch to assist him. His sandy colour hair was much shorter than Sherlock's. Dave looked up at him too, taking in his scent. Selena paid no mind to this man and she dropped her head back onto the cushion. The man didn't seem to notice her presence – either that or he didn't bother to question it.

Sherlock replied to the man's question, "Nicotine patch." He showed him the arm with the numerous amounts of patches. "Helps me think. Impossible to sustain a smoking habit in London these days - bad news for brain work."

"Good news for breathing." This man seemed to talk sense, unlike Sherlock who had a very unusual perception of things.

"Ugh, breathing. Breathing's boring."

Selena chuckled at his statement, "Try life without it and see how that goes for you."

The man who entered earlier finally noticed the young woman curled up on the chair and the black dog and gave them a confused look. "Who's this?" he asked turning to Sherlock.

Sherlock, with his hands pressed together explained Selena's presence, "Selena Owen, graduate from Huddersfield University. She's come down from Golcar for an interview, well…I say 'interview'."

Selena sat up in the chair, impressed by Sherlock's accuracy. She hadn't mentioned to him where from Huddersfield she came from, but Sherlock had a habit of being able to tell things about someone that that person hadn't even mentioned. Selena was aware of this when she looked at his website so the demonstration came as no surprise. Although, the same couldn't be said for the man; he pulled another face, this time directed at Sherlock. Perhaps he wasn't quite accustomed to it. He then looked back at Selena and introduced himself, "Dr John Watson," he offered her his hand, the one that wasn't holding onto the crutch.

She shook his hand in greeting. _Far too formal_, she thought. She sat back into the chair with Dave's head on her lap stroking his black furry head and looking into his eyes as if having a telepathic conversation with him.

John wandered over the one of the tall windows overlooking Baker Street, peering out, watching pedestrians and cars pass by. Sherlock observed him curiously. "What's wrong?" he asked, reading John's body language. Something must have been nagging in his mind.

"Just met a friend of yours," he replied.

"A friend?" Sherlock sounded unnerved at the mention of a 'friend'. Surely he couldn't be so antisocial to not make any friends. A more likely reason was that most people thought he was 'abnormal' and chose not to befriend him. So, anyone who would consider themselves Sherlock's friend either didn't really know him at all, or accepted him for being the peculiar, interesting individual that he was. Sherlock may have accepted what people probably thought of him and knew that he might only have very few if any friends.

"An enemy," John corrected himself.

"Oh, which one?" Sherlock asked, strangely much more relaxed at the word 'enemy'. "_Which one"? How many enemies do you have?_

John gave him yet another confused look. This would be the third one Selena had seen in the space of a few minutes. He seemed to be nothing but confused.

"Well, your arch enemy according to him. Do people _have_ arch enemies?"

Sherlock didn't answer but eyed him suspiciously. "Did he offer you money to spy on me?" he asked in an undertone.

"Yes."

"Did you take it?"

"…No," John shook his head. Selena thought she picked up a hint of an appalled expression in his face, among the mass confusion.

"Pity, we could have split the fee. Think it through next time."

_Wait, what? Fee? Next time? This guy's either crazy or gets up the some exciting stuff_. More intrigued than anything else, Selena was curious as to what Sherlock and John got up to in their daily lives. It certainly sounded exciting.

Selena's stomach growled again, and Dave cocked his head at her. Suddenly feeling very self-conscious, she could feel all eyes in the room watching her. "I'm hungry," she said timidly. Though she hadn't eaten since some unearthly hour that morning, she didn't feel comfortable about eating other peoples' food, especially people she had only just met.

John, although hopelessly confused, appeared to have more social skills than Sherlock since he was the one who gave Selena permission to get herself some food.

Behind the chair she had been sleeping on was a doorway to the kitchen. It was a smallish kitchen with a table in the middle, a fridge against the far wall by a window and a couple of work surfaces and a cooker on the right side. Cupboards were mounted on the right hand wall as well under the work tops. Spotting the toaster, one thought crossed her mind – _cheese on toast._ Simple but just as satisfying as any full course meal in a posh restaurant, if not more.

In a kitchen, Selena was in her element. She loved experimenting with new recipes and enjoyed making a mess, similar to one that a child would make while trying to bake a cake, especially in her own kitchen; mess was definitely not an option in her mother's kitchen. She approached the cooker, trying to figure out which knob worked the grill, since one cannot make cheese on toast in a toaster! Miraculously, her old housemate didn't actually know that. Feeling completely at home, despite the fact that it wasn't her house and there were two strangers in the next room, Selena proceeded in making herself some well deserved food. Dave looked up at her with big brown eyes as he sat patiently, watching her cut some cheese.

"What's up, Dave?"

Dave whined at her in response. How could she ignore that look? Selena gave in and offered her companion a piece. Gratefully, he took the cheese from her hand, chewed once or twice and quickly swallowed.

In the next room, she could hear John and Sherlock having a conversation. Sherlock had moved from his place on the sofa and crouched on one of the leather chairs. John sat on the one opposite. They were both talking over a pink suitcase that Sherlock placed on a chair and flung the hideous pink thing open.

Something appeared to be missing in that room. In Selena's experience, whenever anyone was having an in-depth conversation, it always had to be accompanied by a cup of tea or coffee. Quicker than a scolded cat, she filled the kettle with enough water, switched it on and placed three cups and teaspoons, a teapot, a small bowl of sugar and a little jug of milk onto a tray. _It's just like being at home_, she chuckled to herself. Once the kettle boiled, she poured the steaming water into the teapot and carried the tray into the next room. "I am the Tea Lady," she sung aloud, completely by accident. If anyone gave her a funny look, she didn't notice, nor did she care. The Tea Lady was her identity in every household she lived in, like it was an unpaid profession. They accepted the offer and organised their own cups, while they discussed something to do with the pink suitcase, a phone and a murderer.

Selena tended to her small late dinner, giving Dave some more cheese, wondering what case they were investigating. She pulled up the chair tucked underneath the desk and sat with them intrigued with the investigation. She listened intently taking another bite out of the toast.

"Nobody could be seen with this case without drawing attention to themselves, particularly a man which is statistically more likely," Sherlock analysed the situation the two of them had been discussing, speaking almost too quickly for Selena to register anything he said. "So obviously he'd feel compelled to get rid of it the moment he noticed he still had it; wouldn't take him any more than five minutes to realise his mistake."

"Who are you talking about?" Selena asked, swallowing a mouthful of toast.

"A serial killer," was Sherlock's quick reply. Selena nodded in acknowledgment and took another bite while Sherlock continued, "I checked every backstreet wide enough for a car five minutes from Lauriston Gardens and any way you could dispose of a bulky object without being observed; took me less than an hour to find the right skip."

"Pink, you got all that because you realised the case would be pink?" John asked dumbfounded by the explanation. He clearly was not used to it.

"Well it _had_ to be pink, obviously." Sherlock narrowed his eyes at John, slightly irritated at how stupid he could be. Selena had only been listening for that part of the conversation so she had an excuse to not know the case would be pink.

"Why didn't I think of that?"

"Because you're an idiot."

John eyes opened wider in shock at such an insult – that was something a child would probably say to offend someone they didn't like.

"No, no don't be like that, practically everybody is." Selena guessed that Sherlock was trying to be reassuring but John didn't get that impression.

"Just wondering, why would the case be pink?" Selena asked, wanting to join in with the conversation. She had finished her toast and now that she was satisfied, engaged with discussion, though she had little evidence to go on. _I can still offer my ideas._

"The woman found dead was wearing all pink. It's obvious that she would have a pink suitcase as well," Sherlock explained to her.

"Makes sense. You really must be an idiot to not know that," she said to John in a playful tone. He sighed, displeased by the comment. Selena's way of breaking the ice and befriend others would involve one or two light hearted insults, not meant to offend the person. John didn't appear to see it that way, so she reframed from making anymore comments.

"Do you see what's missing?" Sherlock gestured at the open case.

"From the case, how could I?" Selena could see John was starting to get rather fed up now.

"Her phone! Where's her mobile phone?"

Selena thought about the question. The woman must have had a phone, there's hardly anyone who doesn't have a mobile phone these days. "Perhaps she kept it on her person? People don't tend to keep their phones in their suitcases," she suggested.

"There was no phone on the body, or in the case," Sherlock pointed out. _Hm, it was worth a try._

"We know she had one, that's her number there, John just texted," he motioned to the phone on the arm of the chair where John sat.

"Maybe she left it at home?" John also gave a suggestion, though not a very probable one. Sherlock shifted to a proper sitting position on his chair.

"She has a string of lovers and she's careful about it. She never leaves her phone at home."

A long pause passed, and all three of them robotically took a sip of tea, as they tried to come up with a reason as to why the murdered woman's phone was missing. "Why did I just send that text?" John asked looking at his own phone.

"To find out where the phone is," Selena said in a confident tone. Lessons from life suggest the best way of finding your lost phone is to get someone to send a text or to ring it, which was probably the idea Sherlock had in mind when asking John to send a text. Again, John came out with another obvious suggestion, "She could have lost it."

"Doubtful," Selena became more and more engrossed in the investigation, "She'd be careful not to lose it or let someone steal it. Wherever it is, it's no accident that it's there."

Selena fancied she saw a flicker of approval in Sherlock's eyes. She silently praised herself, proud of her efforts. And she hadn't even had her interview yet.

"The murderer," John mumbled, "you think the murderer has the phone?"

"Maybe she left it with her case, maybe he took it from her for some reason. Either way, balance probability is that the murderer has her phone," Sherlock concluded.

"Sorry, what are we doing? Did I just text a murderer?" John seemed slightly frightened at the prospect of texting a murderer, but then again, who wouldn't be? Although, the murderer would hardly know who the text was from, and it was for a good purpose. John's phone began ringing, and all eyes turned to face it. Selena thought it may be a response to the text John sent.

"If the phone was lost, then you definitely wouldn't get this sort of response," Selena just thought she'd make a point to John about suggesting the obvious.

"A few hours after his last victim and the murderer receives a text that can only be from her," Sherlock seemed to have the slightest growl in his voice, "Indeed if a stranger found the phone, they'd ignore a text like that, but the murderer would panic." He flipped the lid on the pink case closed.

_This just gets more and more exciting!_ Selena grinned. She hadn't been there long and already something fun was happening. Sherlock quickly sprang up from the chair pulled on his blazer.

The phone had stopped ringing when John said, "Should you talk to the police?"

"Four people are dead; there isn't time to talk to the police."

_Four? What have I been missing?_ Selena felt her eyes bulging from their sockets. She'd make sure to catch up on these events later.

"Then why are you talking to me?" John retorted, unable to understand.

Sherlock didn't answer but looked over at the mantelpiece in dismay, "Mrs Hudson took my skull," he whined.

_Skull…?_ Selena gave him a questioning look as he pulled on his long coat and wrapped a dark blue scarf around his neck.

"Well?" Sherlock asked expectantly. Selena still sat, unsure of what to do. "Well, what?" asked she and John in unison, which came as a surprise to both of them.

"Well, you can just sit there and," a disgusted look crossed Sherlock's face, "watch telly." Selena didn't blame him for that; stuff of TV these days was nearly always rubbish and completely pointless to watch.

"You want me to come with you?" Judging by that question, John didn't spend much time with Sherlock, or that they had only just met the day before. The way they behaved with each other suggested the latter.

"I like company when I go out. I think better when I talk aloud. A skull just attracts attention."

_Again, what's with the skull thing? God, I'm confused._ Selena decided questions will be asked later, at some point when they can have a proper conversation.

"Problem?" Sherlock directed the question at John who pulled a weird face that looked amused yet slightly disgusted.

"Yeah, Sergeant Donavan," he replied.

At the mention of that name, Sherlock rolled his eyes and turned away annoyed. "What about her?" Selena could tell that he certainly didn't like this woman though for what reason she did not know.

"She said," John told of this woman, "that you get off on this. You enjoy it." Selena frowned in disgust, _what kind of person says that? Urgh…great, I now have wrong images in my head._ She buried her face in her hands, ashamed of thinking about such things.

Sherlock didn't deny nor confirm the accusation but replied with, "And I said dangerous, and here you are," then strode out of the room and down the stairs.

Selena turned to face John, eyebrows raised, perplexed. He returned her gaze, before heaving himself off the chair, cursing, "Damn it," and hobbling with his crutch after Sherlock.

Dave looked up at Selena as she looked down at him. There was something expectant in his eyes. "Well…" Selena sighed, "What do you think about that, Dave." He shuffled on the spot where he stood and wagging his tail.

Sherlock's voice suddenly sounded from the bottom of the staircase, "You coming, Tea Lady?" It could only have been directed at her as she _was_ the Tea Lady after all. A smile on Selena's face stretched from ear to ear, and more to herself than to Sherlock she said with a laugh, "Hell, yeah." She hadn't removed her jacket since coming in so she sprang to her feet, and ran down the stairs with Dave close behind to meet the detective and the doctor on a mission to find themselves a killer.


	3. Guardian

**Note: **Another note (sorry), this will probably be the last one. I just thought I'd try and write something from Dave's point of view, because I can't go through a story without something like this. I won't be able to live! So, here is a chapter from the point of view from Dave. See what you think.

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><p>Dave padded up the staircase, tired of waiting in the hallway for his mistress to return. He assumed that she wouldn't be coming back down, so he decided he would go to her. Just in case something bad had happened. Although, he didn't sense anything dangerous. At the top of the stairs, he nudged the door open with his muzzle. A wall of warm air hit him as he entered the room, as well as a mixture of scents; burning wood, an unfamiliar male and Mistress Selena. Dave headed straight to the source of warmth to heat up from being in the cold hallway – a blazing open fire. He would ignore the male for now and inspect him later. Mistress was curled up on a chair asleep, but to Dave's disappointment, the chair was not big enough for the both of them, so he made do with lying by the chair instead.<p>

Dave had also had a hectic day. He wasn't used the noise and bustle of such a large city; and all the new sights, sounds and scents left him very disorientated. At least now he was somewhere quiet to come to terms with the new place. There wasn't much greenery in this place which unsettled him; he was used to open fields, and woods with trees taller than some of the buildings in this city. There certainly wasn't much space to run around which didn't help to ease the uncomfortable closeness of everything, although, Dave was an adaptable dog. Wherever Mistress went, Dave would ensure that he was by her side to protect her and keep her safe. It was the only thing he could do to repay her for the deed she had done for him.

Back at the rescue centre, Dave was barely an adult but he knew the people working there were planning something. He wasn't ill or old but his personality and attitude left them concerned – very concerned. Dave knew what they did to animals with 'bad behaviour'. The lethal injection. The chemical that makes cats, dogs, rabbits, all sorts of animals fall asleep and never wake up. Dave would not allow himself to subjected to such neglect. He growled and barked abuse at those who would do him harm, and begged to be freed by the humans passing by who looked for an animal to take home and care for. Then one day, and not a moment too soon, Selena turned up. She watched him curiously for a few minutes and Dave watched her in return from behind the bars of his cage. The rescue centre humans argued with her after she told them that she wanted to take Dave. Dave was unsure what transpired between them but they reluctantly released him to go with his new carer. Certainly not a moment too soon. Little did Dave know that he was booked for a vet appointment later that day for his final injection. Selena had saved his life and Dave hoped that one day he would be able to return the favour.

Dave was suddenly aware of someone entering the house, disrupting his thoughts. He pricked his ears, listening to the footsteps, though they not of someone with a normal gait. Another male entered with room using a walking stick to help him. Dave lifted his muzzle and took in the male's scent. All seemed fine, except for something metal. It could have been the walking stick, although the smell was very familiar reminding him of his career in the police force. The male had a gun with him. Dave made sure to keep a close eye on this one. The male hadn't noticed him yet so Dave still had the element of surprise, should he need to use it.

The two males exchanged words with each other in conversation, though Dave couldn't understand. Mistress said a few words in a sarcastic tone. Due to their closeness, Dave could understand Selena more than most other humans. Not necessarily the words, but the particular tones she used helped in understanding mood and context.

The male that Dave was closely watching held out his hand to Mistress. Dave tensed his muscles. Neither male nor female exhibited any signs of aggression. Selena took the males hand in hers. Dave then relaxed, knowing it was a friendly gesture when humans greeted each other.

Dave moved closer to Selena, placing his head on her lap. She scratched part of his neck underneath his collar with one hand, stroking his head with the other. He liked being scratched where he couldn't reach. Her stomach suddenly growled and Dave tilted his head at her questioningly. She should go and feed herself. She spoke timidly, "I'm hungry," seemingly embarrassed for some reason. The male that greeted her earlier replied, mentioning the word 'food'.

At that, Dave's ears perked and saliva began flowing in his mouth. Dave was also quite hungry, and followed Mistress into the kitchen. He sat by her patiently, watching her perform varies duties humans do while making food. Dave wondered why they won't accept a simple piece of meat from the carcass of an animal and eat that, but instead they do things to their food – cook it and maybe sometimes mix it with other types of food. Dave thought it would be easier if he didn't question it but accepted that that was just what humans do.

Mistress noticed Dave looking at her expectantly. She asked him a question and he replied with a whine, politely asking for some food. She offered him a piece of cheese. It wasn't meat but it still tasted good, so he gently took it between his teeth from her hand and gulped it down.

From behind him, Dave heard movement. Turning back towards the front room, he saw that the male that was lying on the sofa had got up a moved to sit on one of the chairs. Both males sat, conversing over an object, similar in shape to the one Mistress brought with her from home. Dave still hadn't introduced himself yet, which he saw as being rather rude, as this was where the male lived. Dave padded up to him. He now saw that this male was taller than the other one. Sitting in front of him, Dave inspected him visually. He wouldn't try to check the male's scent without having consent from him.

Dave patiently allowed the human to inspect him in return. He had a look of observation on his face, similar to Mistress's when she is thinking about something. The human didn't seem to understand what he was supposed to do, so Dave gave up on it for now and went back to Selena for more cheese. He thought he'd try again another time.

Mistress had returned to the kitchen to get her food, after offering the males tea; she seemed to like tea very much. As he anticipated, she gave Dave more cheese, which he accepted gratefully. Dave joined her as she pulled up a chair and joined in the conversations. He settled down in front of the fire, leaving the humans to their own social thing, and decided to doze. He still kept his senses alert, still keeping watch on the shorter male.

Dave dreamt of the open fields and rolling hills of Yorkshire. In the dream he stalked and chased rabbits through long grass, feeling his body tense when he crouched or pounced, and felt adrenaline rushing in his bloodstream. Occasionally in his dreams, he might hear a haunting howl. Only once had Dave heard a wolf's howl in his life. Ever since then, he felt as if something had awoken from a deep sleep inside of him; something primitive, reigniting his wild instincts. Perhaps that was what made him refuse to accept his fate at the rescue centre, but to try his hardest to live. With each howl, he would feel the push of instinct grow stronger as he began to feel more in tune with his wild nature. In a way, the howling frightened him. What if his wild instincts drove him to break his vow to protect Selena? Just thinking about it made him whimper with sadness and regret.

A loud noise woke Dave suddenly from the sleep he didn't intend to have. All senses alert again, he looked around to see what caused the noise. Mistress was unharmed, and the shorter male wasn't holding his weapon but kept it hidden. The taller male had sprung up from the chair he was sitting on and began to put on a long coat and scarf. Perhaps they were going somewhere. More words were exchanged between them before the taller one left and went down the stairs. Selena and the short one gave each other a look. He also left the room, after the taller, quietly growling some words while standing.

Dave looked his mistress in the eye. "Well, what do you think about that, Dave?" she said to him. He eagerly shuffled on the spot wagging his tail. He wanted to go with the humans – he could tell by the way they were behaving, especially the quick movements, that something interesting was going on. Definitely something worth being there for.

Someone raised their voice from the bottom of the stairs. It sounded like the taller male. Mistress smiled in response, murmured to her self before darting out of the room as well. Dave sprang after her, lead in mouth ready to offer to Mistress before leaving the house and going on an adventure.


	4. Half A Case

Selena took Dave's lead in her hand when he offered it to her. After closing the door behind her, she and Dave trotted across the street to catch up with John and Sherlock. She hadn't the slightest clue as to where they were going, but followed, staying as close to them as possible so she didn't get lost again. To Selena, everything in London looked the same. She couldn't possibly find her way around on her own so she would have to rely on Sherlock to direct her around the endless maze of streets until she became familiar with them – that is, if he accepts her. Remembering it all would not be easy; when it came to mapping places in her mind she would often get lost and confused and that part of her memory would fail her. Selena recalled learning about a study on London taxi drivers, and how the hippocampus in their brains where larger than those of people who weren't taxi drivers. That was how they managed to find their way around London so easily. _I envy them so much right now,_ she thought to herself, a how small her brain felt.

"Where are we going?" Selena asked, struggling to keep up. She could also she that John was having a bit of trouble with his bad leg because Sherlock walked quite quickly. That was another thing she may have to grow accustomed too; walking fast, though her legs were much shorter than his._ Damn you and your long legs._

"Northumberland Street is a five minute walk from here," Sherlock replied.

_No idea where that is,_ again thinking about her brain, but continued walking.

"You think he's stupid enough to go there?" John referred to the murderer they were after.

"No, I think he's brilliant enough. I love the brilliant ones. They're always so desperate to get caught," Sherlock said with a smirk, pleased that they were dealing with someone of intelligence rather than some common mindless convict.

"Why?" John asked him.

Selena had a good idea as to why the 'brilliant ones' would want to get caught; it was all to do with recognition. "Appreciation, John," she answered him. Sherlock seemed to give her a side glance, as she took the words from his mouth. "They get a chance to be in the spotlight…"

"That's the frailty of genius, John, it needs an audience," Sherlock interrupted her. He wasn't used to someone else explaining things instead of him. _Hmm… if a test of wills is what you want then that's fine by me. _Selena and Sherlock indirectly declared war with each other over who explains what. Selena knew she wouldn't win, but it would be fun putting up a fight.

John accepted the explanation, though he still didn't understand completely. Sherlock went on about the intelligent murderer and Selena decided not to interrupt this time so as to not provoke him too much. "This is his hunting ground. Right here in the heart of the city. Now that we know his victims were abducted, that changes everything. Because all of his victims disappeared from busy streets, crowded places, but nobody saw them go."

Sherlock quickly brought his hands to his face, raising his voice slightly, "Think! Who do we trust even though we don't know them? Who passes unnoticed wherever they go? Who hunts in the middle of the crowd?"

_He likes being dramatic,_ Selena thought while try to think of an answer to the puzzle.

John hadn't even stopped to think about it when he asked, "Don't know, who?" _You could at least try to give an answer,_ Selena rolled her eyes at him.

"Haven't the faintest. Hungry?" Sherlock headed towards a little restaurant across the road. Selena wasn't hungry after eating that cheese on toast, but may consider refuelling if she needed more energy for, perhaps running.

Selena left Dave by the door, as no dogs were allowed in the restaurant. He whined at her, but understood why he couldn't go it. "Hopefully we won't take too long," Selena reassured him, giving him a hug. He licked her face in return. "And don't go anywhere."

Selena stepped inside, immediately feeling the warmth. The three of them sat at a table near the window. Sherlock positioned himself where he could clearly see the address he intended to keep an eye on. Selena sat next to him, on the corner part of the seat, as it was the kind of seat similar to a sofa attached to the walls. John sat with his back to the window on Selena's other side. She guessed John was going to have some food, and thought if he didn't finish it, she could always help him out. This was a habit she had picked up when she was young; at the parent's house, you learned to eat quickly and if anything was left on your plate, someone would soon take it off you so as not to waste anything.

"22 Northumberland Street; keep your eyes on it," Sherlock instructed. Selena leaned back against the wall casually, seeming to stare out of the window distantly, although actually watching said address.

"He's not just going to ring the doorbell, he'd need to be mad," John pointed out, removing his jacket. _Think about what you just said John…And that jumper makes you look old,_ Selena held back the urge to mock his terrible fashion sense.

"He _has_ killed four people."

"Ok," John realised that the man must be at least the tiniest bit mad to kill four people.

A rather large waiter with a slight beard and his hair tied back greeted Sherlock, shaking his hand, "Anything on the menu, whatever you want, free. On the house, for you and your date."

Sherlock must have done this man a good favour for him to earn such respect. _What, date? _Selena wasn't sure who the waiter thought was Sherlock's date and shifted, unnerved.

"Do you want to eat?" Sherlock asked John.

John didn't answer but protested, "I'm not his date." Selena giggled quietly to herself, highly amused.

"This man got me off a murder charge," The waiter began telling John and Selena of his story.

"This is Angelo," Sherlock introduced him, "Three years ago I successfully proved to Lestrade at the time of a particularly vicious triple murder that Angelo was in a different part of town house-breaking."

"He cleared my name," Angelo continued.

"I cleared it a bit," Sherlock corrected him, not taking his eyes off the address. "Anything happening opposite?"

"Nothing. But for this man, I'd have gone to prison."

"You _did_ go to prison," corrected Sherlock again.

Seeming not to want to carry on the conversation, Angelo said, "I'll get a candle for the table. It's more romantic."

"I'm not his date!" John protested again.

"Do people always think you two are gay?" Selena directed the question at John with a little smirk, knowing it would wind him up. He didn't answer but glared at her in response.

"You may as well eat," Sherlock said, putting his menu aside, still not taking his eyes off the house, "we might have a long wait."

"Aren't you going to eat something," Selena asked Sherlock, knowing that he hadn't eaten since she met him earlier.

"Brain is what's important, everything else is transport," he replied. Selena didn't quite understand what he meant but didn't say anymore.

Angelo placed a tea light in the centre of the table and John took a moment to scan the menu before starting a different topic of conversation. "People don't have arch enemies."

Sherlock was too engrossed in thought to immediately register that John had said something, "Sorry?"

"In real life there are no arch enemies. Doesn't happen."

"Doesn't it? Sounds a bit dull." Sherlock didn't sound particularly interested in the conversation and continued watching the different goings on outside. Selena nodded slightly in agreement. She thought that ordinary peoples' lives were boring because everything that happened to them was so mundane. At least an arch enemy would make things a little more interesting. One of the reasons Selena contacted Sherlock was that she wanted to have a life far more interesting than those of the ordinary, boring people.

"So who did I meet?"

"What do real people have then, in their 'real lives'?" Sherlock asked, not sounding the least bit intrigued.

"Friends? People they know, people they like, people they don't like. Girlfriends, boyfriends."

"Yes, as I was saying, dull."

"Friends aren't dull, not always," Selena joined in, "it depends on who your friends are that makes them either fun people or boring people." Selena had one or two fun friends, but anyone else was considered rather dull. The dull ones were those that were practically clones of every other person, the fun ones were those that were truly unique, completely different to everyone else; their own breed.

"You don't have a girlfriend then?" John asked, not taking much notice to Selena's input.

"Girlfriend? No, not really my area."

Selena found herself subconsciously listening more intently to this part of the conversation.

"Oh right. Do you have a boyfriend? Which is fine, by the way," John added hastily.

"I know it's fine." Sherlock had now taken his eyes off 22 Northumberland Street, but luckily for him Selena was still keeping watch, occasionally gazing at Dave to see if he was still okay.

"So you've got a boyfriend, then."

"No."

_This is rather awkward… _Selena was unsure whether to put a word in or just leave them to it. Sherlock narrowed his eyes at John suspiciously.

"Right, okay. You're unattached like me," John mumbled. Selena also eyed him in her peripheral vision. _He's behaving rather suspiciously._

A silence hovered over them, while John took a few mouthfuls of food, Selena occasionally "borrowing" a bit, and Sherlock looked a little nervous before saying, "John, um…I think you should know that I consider myself married to my work and while I'm flattered by your interest…"

"No…"

"I'm really not looking for any…"

"I'm not asking…no. I'm just saying, it's all fine," John reassured Sherlock that he wasn't in any way attempting to ask him out. _Darn…that's a bummer. Wait, what? _Selena found herself having a conversation with herself in her mind. She did not know why she did, but it often helped when debating about something with herself, or when thinking about something in dept. It attracted less attention than talking to herself out loud.

The two of them watched each other for a moment. Sherlock relaxed, "Good. Thank you," he said relieved. John averted his gaze awkwardly.

After arguing with herself for a few moments about why on Earth she would think what she did, Selena decided that she needed to distract all three of them from the previous topic of conversation. Scanning the street, she noticed that a taxi had stopped outside 22 Northumberland Street. Nobody was getting in or out of the taxi, which seemed rather odd. Selena gave Sherlock a nudge, "That taxi has stopped with no one getting in or out."

Sherlock and John turned to face the suspect taxi. "Why a taxi?" murmured Sherlock, "Oh, that's clever. Is it clever? Why is it clever?"

"That's him?" John asked.

"Don't stare," Sherlock disciplined him like he was a child. Selena turned away so as not to look suspicious.

"_You're _staring," John retorted.

"We can't all stare, it'll look suspicious," Selena said sternly.

Sherlock hastily stood, grabbed his coat and left the restaurant. Selena quickly followed, leaving John to look confused before leaving also. Selena and Dave greeted each other and Sherlock kept his eyes on the taxi. A man was now sat in the back. As the taxi began to pull away, Sherlock ran into the road in front a car. The driver halted the car and pressed on the horn furiously as the detective leaped over the bonnet. Sherlock looked to be unharmed as he continued to run after the cab. Selena and Dave sprang across the road after them. John and Sherlock stopped when the cab turned right down some different road.

"I've got the cab number," John said.

"Good for you," Sherlock replied knowing the cab number wouldn't be very useful. Sherlock again adopted his vigorous-thought pose with his hands on either side of his head. "Right turn, one way, road works, traffic lights, bus lane, pedestrian crossing, left turn only, traffic lights." Sherlock recited, going through a visual map of the area in his mind. Quicker than a gazelle perused by a cheetah, he sprinted into a building on the right side of the road with John, Selena and Dave close behind.

"How the hell did you do that?" Selena yelled at him, but he didn't seem to hear. The group climbed a spiral staircase, leading to the roof of the building. Sherlock lead the chase, followed by Dave, then John and Selena who were struggling to keep up. Sherlock called to them to keep up. On the roof, they ran down another set of spiral stairs and leaped onto the roof of the neighbouring building. _This is insane!_ Dave kept looking behind, checking that Selena was still with them, barking at her to keep up. Sherlock and Dave leaped over a narrow gap between one building and the next. John and Selena however, hesitated. Selena would probably need a run up to jump that gap.

"Come on, we're losing him!" Sherlock yelled across the gap. Selena stepped back a few paces then ran up to the gap and leaping across with John beside her. She landed heavily on the neighbouring roof, stopping herself from falling flat on her face with her hands. _Oh God…_ Regaining her footing, she rejoined the chase. Running down some more stairs, and onto a street, Selena fancied she saw a street sign labelled Lexington Street. Was it Lexington Street? The team was going too fast for her to read any signs properly. At full sprint, Selena managed to catch up with the others. "I'm not a long distance runner!" she growled.

At the end of the street, the cab they were chasing drove past, seeming oblivious that it was being pursued. Picking up the pace, Sherlock turned right, "This way," he called. Dave and Selena followed him close behind, whereas John wasn't paying attention and headed in the opposite direction. "No, _this_ way!" Selena and Sherlock yelled at him in synch. Dave too barked at him, meaning the same thing.

"Sorry," John apologised, sprinting back in the correct direction. Turning down a few side streets, Selena lost count how many, the team soon approached the street that the taxi would be driving on round about now. With a final burst of speed, Dave, Sherlock, Selena and John jumped in front of the taxi. Dave leaped onto the bonnet of the cab with his teeth bared, barking at the driver, causing him to screech to a halt.

"Police! Open her up!" Sherlock yelled at the driver, running round to the back to confront the passenger. The door opened and he sighed, disappointed. "No. Teeth, tan. What, Californian?" Sherlock reached for the passenger's luggage, inspecting the airport label. "LA, Santa Monica, just arrived."

Selena leaned with her hands on her knees, panting, retrieving her breath. Dave stood by her with his tongue lolling from his mouth, also panting, glaring at the taxi passenger.

"How could you possibly know that?" John asked between breaths.

"The luggage," Sherlock replied, "First trip to London right? Going by your final destination and the route the cabbie was taking you," he spoke to the Californian tourist.

"Sorry, are you guys the police?" he asked in his American accent. _Urgh, his voice is annoying._

"Yeah," Sherlock lifted his hand, holding something that must have been some kind of identity badge to get away with claiming to be the "police", "Everything alright?" Selena chuckled at the numerous, ridiculous things that Sherlock seemed to be able to get away with.

"Yeah," the man declared all was well.

Before wandering off and leaving the man alone, Sherlock said, "Welcome to London." Selena walked away from the cab with Sherlock, taking Dave's lead in her hand again. "Bet that guy's having a great evening," she remarked.

"Hm?" Sherlock made a questioning noise.

"Three people and a dog chase his taxi, claiming to be the police, stop his taxi, find out he's American, then bugger off and leave him alone."

John approached, joining Sherlock and Selena and said, "Basically just a cab that happened to slow down."

"Basically,"

"Not the murderer,"

Sherlock confirmed John's point. John reached for Sherlock's hand, taking what it was holding; a police ID but not his own. "Where did you get this?" he asked, "Detective Inspector Lestrade," he read out the name on the badge.

"Yeah, I pickpocket him when he's annoying. You keep that one. I've got plenty at the flat."

_Mischievous bloke,_ she chuckled.

Looking back at the cab, they saw that the passenger was talking to a real policeman. _Oh dear…_

"Got your breath back?" Sherlock asked them.

"Yep," Selena took in a deep breath.

"Ready when you are," John agreed.

Dave uttered a low bark in an affirmative. The four of them turned tail and sprinted down the street, in the direction the cab came from, back to Baker Street.

* * *

><p>Sherlock opened the door of 221B Baker Street, and he and John leaned against the left wall in out of breath from running, laughing. Selena sat on the bottom step of the stairs in the middle of a laughing fit, resting her head against Dave's, who sat next to her.<p>

"That was…" John breathed, "the most ridiculous thing…I've ever done."

"And you invaded Afghanistan."

John giggled, which seemed exceptionally girly compared to Sherlock's low chuckled.

"That wasn't just me." John took a deep breath, "Why aren't we back in the restaurant?"

"They can keep an eye out. It was a long shot anyway." Sherlock clutched his stomach which must have hurt from all that laughing.

"So what were we doing there?"

"Oh, just passing the time. And proving a point."

"What point?"

"You. Mrs Hudson!" Sherlock called down the hallway, "Dr Watson will take the room upstairs." _So, John's moving in now?_

"Says who?" John asked.

"Says the man at the door." With perfect timing, someone knocked on the door three times. Sherlock smiled at him, John look perplexed and went to answer the door. Selena hadn't noticed until now that John no had his walking stick and wasn't limping. _A psychosomatic limp. _"John's moving in?" she asked, unclear about the relationship between him and Sherlock.

"He was looking for a house share. I've managed to help him out a bit," Sherlock explained briefly. Selena began wondering again about if Sherlock would accept her as his assistant or not. So far she had already proved that she can think about the situation at hand and come up with possible solutions to problems, almost as well as Sherlock could. A fresh young mind like hers could always be useful to him – second opinions can be very valuable. Dave too had his uses; Sherlock may be able to notice almost everything but, despite his cleverness, he didn't have senses of scent or hearing like Dave's.

John returned with his abandoned walking stick in his hand. He must have left it in the restaurant as he didn't have in when they were chasing the cab. John smiled at Sherlock, knowing that he was correct about his limp being psychosomatic. Mrs Hudson approached them in the hallway looking very upset. "Sherlock, what have you done?" she asked.

Selena hadn't noticed, but Dave had been looking up the stares since they entered the house, meaning something wasn't quite right.

"Mrs Hudson?" Sherlock asked her, worried.

The woman gestured upstairs. Dave was the first the spring up the stairs, growling. The others followed, taking two steps at a time. The door to the living room was already opened, and Dave sprang at a man sat in one of the leather chairs, displaying his large vicious teeth. Selena quickly grabbed Dave's collar, pulling him backwards before he got the chance to clamp his jaws around the man's throat. "Dave, chill," she said sternly. She did not know who this man was, but she thought it would be better for her and Dave if the black dog didn't kill anyone with half a dozen policemen in the room. The policemen were rummaging through bookshelves, drawers and cupboards, seeming to be searching. Selena proceeded to calm Dave down, who stood where he was still growling at the strangers.

Sherlock entered the room and immediately confronted the man sat on the chair, "What are you doing?" _Sounds like he knows this person, _Selena thought, _possible enemy?_

"Well, I knew you'd find the case, I'm not stupid," the man replied to him. He remained where he sat and spoke calmly, suggesting that he and Sherlock's relationship wasn't an aggressive one.

"You can't just break into my flat."

"You can't withhold evidence – and I didn't break into your flat," The two argued, and Selena and John stood back out of the way.

"What do you call this then?" Sherlock yelled, gesturing at the policemen raiding the flat.

"It's a drugs bust."

"A what?" Selena turned to him, interested.

"Seriously? This guy – a junkie?" John asked, amused, "Have you met him?"

Sherlock turned to face John, looking down at him with a serious expression. "John…"

"I'm pretty sure you could search this flat all day, you wouldn't find anything that you could call recreational," John continued, not taking much notice to Sherlock.

"John you probably want to shut up now." He and Sherlock stared at each other for a moment until, finally getting the message, John asked in slight disbelief, "No…"

"What?"

"You?"

"Shut up!" Sherlock retorted at the accusation. "I'm not your sniffer dog," he addressed the man sat in the chair. Judging by the fact that he wasn't wearing a uniform and wasn't joining the others with the drugs bust, Selena guessed that he must be leading the operation, possibly a detective inspector? This could have been Lestrade that Sherlock stole IDs from, since the two had a sort of friendly relationship, suggesting that they often work together.

"No, Anderson's my sniffer dog," Lestrade motioned to a man in a suit in the kitchen. He raised his hand slightly to Sherlock.

"Anderson what are you doing here on a drugs bust?" Sherlock seemed outraged at Anderson's presence.

"Oh, I volunteered."

"They all did. They're not strictly speaking on the drug squad but they're very keen," Lestrade explained.

"Are these human eyes?" A woman with black frizzy hair came from the kitchen holding a jar of…eyes. _That's just weird…_

"Put those back!" Sherlock demanded.

"There were in the microwave."

"It's an experiment."

"You do experiments on eyes?" Selena asked slightly concerned.

"Yes, but not just eyes, other things too."

Selena decided to stand by John and avoid any possible conflict with either Sherlock or Lestrade. She didn't enjoy getting into silly little arguments over insignificant things, especially today of all days. "And how long have you known him?" she asked John, referring to Sherlock.

"I only just met him a couple of days ago,"

"You seem to make friends quickly," Selena remarked.

"I never asked, why are you here?" John queried. Selena began explaining to him about her interest in Sherlock's work and how she took the bull by the horns and asked if he needed an assistant.

"Good timing." Selena raised her eyebrow at John questioningly. "When I came to look at this flat earlier today, Sherlock said to Lestrade that he needed an assistant."

"I would have got here earlier but I couldn't find my way around this damn city," Selena scolded herself for letting Sherlock down with her lateness, although it wasn't entirely her fault.

"So, you're from Huddersfield, right?"

"Yes. It would probably be snowing about now." Selena thought of her home back in Golcar, a town not far from Huddersfield. If she had to go back there, it would all be that bad; she may not have achieved what she wanted but she still had Dave, her weird friends and the beautiful snow covered hills. Selena turned to John and asked him the question that had been nagging at her since she arrived in London, "Do you think he'll accept me as an assistant?"

John's brow furrowed as he thought for a moment. "I think he might. You showed him earlier that you knew how the murderer thinks and I think that is something he values. The way he reacted when you explained that to me says that he's not used to being around someone as intelligent as you – nearly as clever as himself."

Selena relaxed and a slight smile crossed her face. "But then again, you have only known each other a day."

"Well…yeah, that's true. We'll have to wait and see."

"Indeed," Selena snorted, "it certainly has been an interesting evening. I hope I can look forward to more."

John and Selena listened into Sherlock's conversations with Lestrade about someone called Rachel. Lestrade explained that Rachel was the dead woman's stillborn daughter and Sherlock was pondering why the woman would scratch her daughter's name on the floor while she was dying, convinced that she was trying to tell them something. John would join in the conversation, offering suggestions and ideas, while Sherlock paced back and forth, restlessly.

Mrs Hudson came up the stairs and stood in the doorway. "Isn't the doorbell working? Your taxi's here Sherlock."

Selena muttered to herself, "But Sherlock didn't order a taxi."

"Oh dear, they're making such a mess. What are they looking for?" asked the landlady. Selena left John to explain; for some reason, she had never been able to connect with people who weren't within her age range. Sherlock continued pacing until finally everyone's ramblings made him snap. "Shut up everybody, shut up! Don't move, don't speak, don't breathe, I'm trying to think. Anderson face the other way, you're putting me off," Sherlock yelled an outburst, causing everyone to freeze. Dave's fur bristled, and he snapped his jaws in annoyance in Sherlock's direction. After observing how Sherlock spoke to Anderson, it was clear that they did not get on with each other; Anderson appeared to resent Sherlock for whatever reason, and Sherlock had an amusing habit of insulting him whenever he got the chance.

"What about your taxi?" Mrs Hudson pestered him about the taxi that apparently Sherlock ordered.

"Mrs Hudson!" he snapped, causing her to scuttle away down the stairs. Sherlock suddenly calmed, his face turned up to the ceiling as if looking into some heavenly light. "Oh…She was clever, yes! She's cleverer than you lot a she's dead," Sherlock announced as sudden realisation hit him.

"That's a bit harsh," Selena commented, sitting on a chair in front of the fire that Lestrade had moved from. John sat on the one opposite, holding his now redundant walking stick.

"She didn't lose her phone, she never lost it. She planted it on him. When she got out of the car, she knew she was going to her death. She left the phone in order to lead us to her killer," Sherlock explained.

"That's what I said!" Selena declared, jumping out of the chair slightly, "Sort of." She lowered her gaze, feeling half a dozen pairs of eyes fixed on her. Lestrade looked at her, puzzled.

"How?" John asked, offended by Sherlock's earlier insult.

"What do you mean how? Rachel!"

All faces turned to him and an awkward silence loomed over 221B as no one else but Sherlock seemed to understand what the detective was getting at. He repeated himself in the hope that the penny would soon drop; still silence and blank expressions all round. "Look at you lot, you're all so vacant. Is it nice not being me? It must be so relaxing."

Selena struggled to suppress the urge to stand and punch Sherlock in his perfectly formed face, hopefully giving him a massive bruise so it no longer looked so perfect. _Hang on, who said it was perfect? Shut up!_

"Rachel is not a name," Sherlock explained further so that the others would understand.

"Then what is it?" John asked looking extremely agitated.

"On the luggage, there's a label. E-mail address," Sherlock gestured to the pink suitcase, instructing John to read it out. As he read off the label, Sherlock proceeded to type into his laptop. "She didn't have a laptop, which means she did her business on her phone, so it's a smartphone, it's e-mail enabled. There's a website for her account. Her username is her e-mail address and all together the now the password is…?"

"Rachel," John recalled, not amused by Sherlock's patronising tone as if he were talking to a class of kids with learning difficulties.

"So, we can read her e-mails. So what?" Anderson clearly wasn't impressed. Either that or he hid extremely well.

"Anderson, don't talk out loud, you lower the IQ of the whole street," Sherlock insulted him again. _It would be interesting to follow the relationship between these two,_ Selena thought, chuckling to herself. "We can do much more than just read her e-mails. It's a smartphone, it's got GPS."

"Oh! So we can find out where the phone is online, and where the killer is," Selena finally understood, unlike most of the others in the room.

"Exactly," Sherlock seemed pleased that he wasn't the only one with any brains in the room.

"Unless he got rid of it," Lestrade butted in.

"He rang back after John texted him. He's still got it," Selena took it upon herself to explain what was discussed before they left for the restaurant. Sherlock pestered the laptop impatiently as it took its time to load. Mrs Hudson returned from downstairs looking very apprehensive, "Sherlock, dear, the taxi driver…"

Sherlock rose from his seat and replied to her, "Mrs Hudson, isn't it time for your evening soother," before directing Lestrade about what they'll need to find the phone quickly before the phone's battery ran out. Selena wondered what the situation was with the taxi; she would have known if Sherlock had ordered a taxi, since she was with him since they left the house. The cabbie could have got him confused with someone else, but it didn't sound like it, going by the amount of times the landlady tried to tell Sherlock about it. She went a stood by John who sat at the laptop, waiting for the map reference to appear. When it did, it showed something rather odd.

"Sherlock…" John must have thought so too.

"Where is it, quickly?" Sherlock impatiently looked over John's shoulder at the laptop.

"Here…it's here in 221 Baker Street."

"How can it be here? How?" Sherlock stood up straight, perplexed.

Lestrade made a suggestion, "Maybe it was in the case when you brought it back and it fell out somewhere?" _Almost as obvious as John, _Selena thought back to the many overt ideas John gave earlier.

"And I didn't notice? Me? I didn't notice?" Sherlock sounded almost insulted.

Lestrade addressed his officers to also look for Jennifer Wilson's phone. Instead of leaving Dave to be idle, Selena instructed him to help to look. He wouldn't recognise it by colour but hopefully, the case will still have enough of the woman's scent on it for Dave to be able to recognise something else that belonged to her. After having a good sniff of the case, he padded around the rest of the rooms, poking his nose into cupboards, shelves and anything else that the phone could possibly be in. The only other explanation was that the murderer was in the house. Although Selena didn't want to believe it, but she had only known Sherlock and John for a few hours – either of them could have been the murderer. Suddenly acutely aware of everyone around her, she tried to search for the phone again on the laptop in case it wasn't working properly.

Sherlock seemed rather distant; he was most likely lost in thought so Selena didn't bother asking how he was, for fear of annoying him. By seeing his earlier outburst, interrupting moments such as those was definitely not an option. John also noticed and chose to ask, "Sherlock, are you okay?"

"What?" Sherlock barely moved and it was clear in the way he spoke that something wasn't quite right, "Yeah, yeah I'm fine." From what little Selena had seen, she thought that he'd usually be more self assured, _I haven't known you for a day yet, but I can tell when you're lying. _Sherlock buttoned up his jacket, still rather distant and left the room to go down stairs, "Just popping outside for a moment. Won't be long."

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine."

Selena narrowed her eyes in Sherlock's direction. There was no doubt that he was behaving strangely. "He's lying," she said to John once she was sure Sherlock was out of earshot. John tried the GPS tracker again hoping to be third time lucky. Selena stood aside watching the police officers busying themselves with Lestrade's orders. Again, Selena was questioned about her reasons for being there, her relationship with John and Sherlock and various other snippets of her life. She sighed deeply, fed up of being asked the same questions repeatedly. Speaking to both John and Lestrade, she recited the recent years of her life in Golcar, her interesting in psychology and criminals and Sherlock's work, the story of when she came to London up to now and of course about her loyal companion Dave. It didn't take very long as she didn't go into great detail about everything, knowing that she couldn't trust these people just yet. John stood looking out of a front window as Selena and Lestrade talked. Dave returned to her, no phone, nothing belonging to the victim held in his jaws.

"He got in the cab," John murmured, "Sherlock just got into the cab."

The woman who found the jar of eyes in the microwave entered and spoke up, "I told you, he does that. He's wasting your time. All our time."

_She clearly doesn't like him_, Selena thought that Sherlock and this woman didn't particularly get on either. _Perhaps she's that Sergeant Donavan that made that disgusting comment about it. _Selena gave her a glare as Lestrade ordered the officers to abandon the search and leave. "Why did he do that?" Lestrade whinged, "Why did he have to leave?"

"You know him better than I do," John had turned his attention from outside to Lestrade.

"I've known him for five years and no I don't." Lestrade pulled on his jacket preparing to leave.

"So why do you put up with him?"

"Because I'm desperate, that's why. And because Sherlock Holmes is a great man, and maybe one day, if we're very very lucky he may even be a good one." Lestrade turned and strode down the staircase to leave. John turned to Selena who said, "I'm going to try the GPS again. The phone can't be here."

Dave rested his black head on Selena's knee. As she waited for the computer to find the victim's phone she thought about day to day life at 221B Baker Street. All the running around probably wouldn't drive her up the wall as she was used to physical activity. Although, the dead bodies and people with behaviour and moods she can't anticipate might just do the trick. People with some form of psychosis – they are okay, but unpredictable people such as Sherlock were not.

Her thoughts were interrupted by an irritating, incessant beeping. A blue dot on the laptop screen indicated the whereabouts of Jennifer Wilson's phone – Roland-Kerr Further Education College? What was it doing there? And how? If it was in the house not long ago, how did it suddenly get over there? Selena traced the route on the map from 221B to the college.

"John, which direction did the taxi go in?" she asked urgently.

"Left down this road," John pointed to the map on the screen, "Why?"

"The killer had the phone right? He was in this house before and now he's suddenly over here. I think the killer left this house, and drove off in that taxi. It can't be Sherlock since if he had the phone we would have heard it when you texted the number. So, that leaves..."

"The cab driver?"

Selena nodded with a smirk, "Yep."

"But Sherlock was in the taxi with him." Worry crept into John's voice. _Again with the obviousness._

"Well done," Selena commented sarcastically, "which probably means he'll end up like the pink lady and all the others if we don't help him." Selena roughly closed the laptop, pulled on her jacket and clipped Dave's lead onto his collar. "And maybe we'll catch the killer while we're at it. Oh, 'catch the killer', I like that," she giggled to herself excitedly, bounding on her toes out of the front door followed by John who was less enthusiastic. John called for a taxi, which stopped by the pavement for them. Selena instructed the driver where to take them and scrambled into the back of the car with the others.

"I'll phone Lestrade," John said, rummaging through his jacket pockets for his phone. Pressing a sequence of numbers and placing the phone to his ear, he waited for what felt like forever for someone to answer. Selena shifted, nervous and impatient and annoyed that Sherlock would get himself into such trouble. That could be one more thing she'd have to get used to – saving his life. Dave nuzzled her trying to calm her down and let her know that all will be fine. She smiled at him, thankful that she had him as such a loyal and loving friend.

Finally, someone on the other end answered John's call. "Yes, I need to speak to Detective Inspector Lestrade." Selena strained to listen to what the other person was saying but all she heard were incomprehensible mumbles. "No, Detective Inspector Lestrade, I need to speak to him."

_Oh god, must be another thick skulled receptionist. This could take a while._ The phone conversation with this person could take twice as long as one with a person with average intelligence. When John eventually got through and was handed over to Lestrade, he explained the situation, "We've found where the phone is and the murderer. We think he's the taxi driver that Sherlock went with," John paused for a moment as Lestrade spoke to him. John answered, "Roland-Kerr Further Education College. We're on our way there now." John paused again. "Okay, thank you," he then hung up. John addressed Selena, "He's on his way."

"Good, good." It didn't take more than five minutes after that before they arrived at the college. Another taxi was already parked outside which was most likely to be the one that Sherlock was brought in. Selena and Dave leapt out of the cab, while John addressed the cabbie and paid him. There were two buildings and no way of knowing which one Sherlock went in. Or was there? Dave could easily find Sherlock's scent and follow it. "Which one then?" John asked, gazing at the two buildings.

Selena thought for a moment before suggesting a plan, "We should check both of them. You go in that one," she gestured to the building on the left, "and me and Dave will check the other."

John complied and quickly trotted to the left building, while Selena and Dave made their way to the other. Selena pushed open the entrance door revealing a corridor lined with many doors which lead to classrooms and lecture theatres. She sighed, thinking about having to look in all of these rooms. She turned to Dave hoping he will be able to make it a bit easier, "Dave, try to find Sherlock's scent."

Dave looked up at her confused. He knew she was trying to tell him something but he didn't quite understand. He rarely recognises people by name, and he hadn't known Sherlock long enough to register his scent and use it as something like an identity tag. "Never mind, let's just look in the rooms." There wasn't time to try and explain so Selena and Dave dashed up and down the corridors, peering through the windows into the classrooms for any signs of Sherlock or the murderer. The floors appeared to shine, suggesting that they were cleaned recently and that the cleaners were probably still inside. Among the walls were advertising posters and campaigns for various things. Occasionally, the two of them would call but they never got any answer. When they were on the second floor, Dave suddenly stopped in his tracks and barked for Selena to do the same. His ears were perked and swivelled listening for a sound. The silence was broken by the faint sound of a door closing. It could have been the cleaners, or maybe even Sherlock. Dave barked again and sprang up another flight of stairs to the next floor up. They checked the rooms on this floor but didn't find anyone other than a couple of cleaners who watched them with gormless expressions as the woman and the dog ran past._ Maybe it's the next floor,_ Selena had been thinking that same thought every time they found an empty storey. She flinched at another sound; a gunshot. Many thoughts crossed her mind at once as she followed the sound's echoes which lead her to the next floor and the end of the corridor. A pool of blood seeped from underneath the double doors of the room at the end. Dave lunged at the doors, forcing them open, oblivious to the function of door handles. Selena followed close behind and halted abruptly at the sight of the dead man on the floor. The man looked rather aged, his face frozen in a pained expression. In his left shoulder was a bullet wound, his blood pooling around it. Two pills, unknown to Selena lay on the floor by his body. Dave leaned with his muzzle, sniffed one of them and turned away snorting in disgust. Selena sighed, relieved noticing Sherlock stood over the body somewhat perturbed.

"Hey," Selena greeted him casually, despite the situation. "You okay?"

Sherlock pushed whatever he was thinking about to the back of his mind for the time being, "Yeah, I'm great, thanks." The room lit up with flashing blue lights, and the sound of sirens approached. The three of them waiting for Lestrade as expected and left the forensic team to analyse the crime scene and for the paramedics, who Selena was not expecting to see, to remove the cabbie's body.

"Shall we go?" Sherlock readjusted his coat collar and strode out of the classroom to the courtyard, not taking another look at the dead man on the floor. Selena hesitated before hastily joining him and questioning him about everything that occurred since he left the flat. Sherlock went through the method of how the taxi driver made his victims poison themselves and the 'game' he played with them. He also went through why the killer did what he did, about his children that he doesn't get to see and the aneurism in the right hemisphere of his brain. Apparently, the more people he killed, more money will go to his children when he dies.

Parked outside in the courtyard were a few police cars and an ambulance. A paramedic gestured for Sherlock to sit in the back of it and placed an orange blanket over him, which he repeatedly removed as they insisted he kept it. Selena lifted the tape surrounding the scene and approached John who stood back watching. "I found him," she pointed out the obvious, mocking John's own habit of doing so.

"Yes, I can see that," John chuckled, amused by Sherlock's blanket malarkey. "So, what happened?"

Selena recalled the story that Sherlock had told her, trying to pick up all the details. John's face pulled a number of expressions at different points; surprise at the mention of two pills and the 'game', disgust at the sponsorship thing, and a little shiftiness at the mention of a gunshot wound. "Except, no one knows who shot the guy," Selena eyed John suspiciously. John continued to look oblivious. "Come on, I know it was you, I'm not stupid," she was careful not to speak to loud so that no one overheard.

"How do you know?"

"Sherlock didn't do it. There were bullet holes in the windows of both buildings, suggesting that the shot was fired from that building you were in. Cleaners aren't going to clean windows with guns are they, which leaves you."

John gave in, "Okay, yes it was me, and you really are good."

Selena shifted uncomfortably at the praise, "Thanks. But how did get the gun anyway?"

"I'm an ex-soldier and I had one at my other flat that I brought with me to Baker Street after you arrived."

"I see." Selena noticed Sherlock approach them throwing the orange shock blanket in the front of a police car after having a conversation with Lestrade. John resumed his oblivious act about shooting the serial killer when Sherlock ducked under the police tape; although there was no doubt that he figured it out eventually. "Selena's been explaining everything. Two pills...dreadful business, isn't it?"

Sherlock gazed at him knowingly and said, "Good shot."

"Yes. Yes, must have been through that window," John continued. He was a terrible actor.

"_You'd _know. Need to get the powder burns out of your fingers. I don't suppose you'll serve time for this but let's avoid the court case."

John glanced around, like a meerkat watching for danger.

"Are you alright?" Sherlock asked him, concerned.

"Yes, of course I'm alright."

"You have must killed a man," Sherlock didn't sound convinced.

"Don't forget he used to be in the army, he'll be used to it by now. And that man did force people to commit suicide by toying with them – not a very nice person." Selena butt in, toning down the atmosphere.

"And a bloody awful cabbie," John commented, less seriously.

Sherlock chuckled in the pleasant tuneful way that he does, "That's true, you should have been the route he took us to get here."

The group made to leave the crime scene, past the police cars giggling like young school girls. Dave wagged his tail happily as he padded beside Selena. "Stop, we can't giggle it's a crime scene," John whispered as they passed Sergeant Donovan.

"You're the one who shot him," Sherlock thought he'd kindly point out, far too loudly for John's liking. Despite her efforts, Selena laughed a little more at John's attempt to tell Sherlock to keep his mouth shut after receiving a suspicious glare from Donovan.

"You were going to take that damn pill weren't you?" John stopped and asked Sherlock a little more seriously. Selena also stopped feeling a peculiar lump in her jacket pocket. Unzipping it, she found the almost empty packet of treats that she had forgotten about. She would often use them as an incentive for Dave to do something or as part of his training. Since Dave had been extremely helpful through this half of a case, she occupied herself for a few minutes by making Dave perform a few tricks and feeding him his reward. No doubt he was hungry after so much running around. Dave had obeyed several commands and performed a few tricks, including a little 'dance', as far as dog dancing goes, which Selena taught him out of interest and boredom, until someone mentioned 'dinner' and Dave cheekily snatched the last treat from her hand. John and Sherlock began walking again talking about a Chinese place, when a posh black car rolled up and stopped where they were. A man holding a folded up umbrella in one hand got out of the car and stopped before them.

"Sherlock, that's him, that's the man I was talking to you about," John alerted Sherlock who stood before the man as they confronted each other. Sherlock didn't look too pleased by his presence, "I know exactly who that is."

Selena stood out of the way with John, listening into the conversation. _So this is the arch enemy John was talking about before?_ _Doesn't look very threatening...but then looks can be deceiving._ She held onto Dave's lead in case he felt the need to pounce.

"So, another case cracked. How very public-spirited. Though, that's never really your motivation is it?" The man sounded very sophisticated, his voice wasn't as deep as Sherlock's but they had similar ways with their words. He certainly didn't sound very threatening.

Sherlock looked away, annoyed, "What are you doing here?" Selena watched with increasing fascination.

"As ever, I'm concerned about you."

"Yes, I've been hearing of your 'concern'."

"Always so aggressive." Sherlock did sound to be the more aggressive one, but he did have a point about the 'concern'. Selena fought the overpowering urge to interrupt with a smart comment. "Did it ever occur to you that you and I belong on the same side?"

"Oddly enough...no," Sherlock replied with some arrogance. Selena snickered slightly at the comment.

"We have more in common than you'd like to believe. This petty feud between us is simply childish," The enemy adopted a serious tone, "People will suffer. And you know how it always upset Mummy." Both John and Selena looked up at the two of them completely confused. _Now I'm not following. _"Have I missed something," Selena whispered to John who shrugged and shook his head.

"I upset her? Me? It wasn't me that upset her, Mycroft," Sherlock raised his voice a little, taking offence at the accusation.

John finally intervened to figure out who Mummy was, "No wait, Mummy? Who's Mummy?"

"Mother. Our mother," Sherlock answered, holding Mycroft's gaze, "This is my brother Mycroft."

"Now it all makes sense!" Selena announced her relief. Mycroft shifted his gaze between her and John as if inspecting them.

"Putting on weight again?" Sherlock taunted him.

"Losing it, in fact," Mycroft retorted much displeased by his remark.

"He's your brother?" John asked, acting stupid again. Or maybe he wasn't acting this time.

"Yes, deary. Why does it always take so long for the penny to drop?" Selena mocked his poking him in the side of the head.

"So he's not...I don't know. Criminal mastermind?"

Sherlock looked his brother up and down. "Close enough."

"For goodness' sake," Mycroft protested "I occupy a minor position in the British Government."

"He is the British Government, when he's not too busy being the British Secret Service or the CIA on a freelance basis," Sherlock taunted him a bit more before bidding his brother farewell. "Good evening, Mycroft. Try not to start a war before I get home, you know what it does for the traffic." Sherlock strode away without another word to Mycroft. Selena trotted after him struggling to keep up with his long strides. John stopped again for a moment, conveniently right in front of the woman he intended to chat up, talking with Mycroft for a bit longer.

"So, food now?" Selena suggested eager for something to eat. She wouldn't normally eat so late, but today was an exception.

"Mm...Chinese?"

Selena subconsciously licked her lips at the thought. "I hope you intend to eat this time."

After his rejection, John jogged to catch up with the others. They exchanged a bit of banter, throwing friendly insults at each other and making one or two sly comments as the four of them made to wrap up the eventful and exhilarating evening with some well deserved dinner on everyone's part. _Food, home, then sleep,_ Selena briefly planned the rest of her evening, _I think I'm going to like it here. _She grinned as Dave leaped up at her playfully, confirming her mental notion.


	5. Accepted

After the evening with the taxi driver case, Mrs Hudson made sure that Selena and Dave made themselves at home. She was surprisingly at ease with having Dave around, which reassured both him and Selena. The day after Selena's arrival in London and first case, she resumed her usual duties that she would normally get up to at home; making enough tea for the guys to swim in and making an attempt to sort out Sherlock's experiment equipment that littered the kitchen. Sherlock wasn't too pleased with it, but cleaning and tidying was a second nature to Selena, after filling a teapot. She was careful not to touch anything that looked to be in use or dangerous and put away the things that weren't. She was careful to double check however, for fear of ruining any experiments.

Dave appeared to take a shining to John; the doctor would often be seen giving Dave a lot of fuss and attention. Selena warned John not to give him too much pampering in case it turned Dave into more of a pet than companion. Sherlock didn't interact with Dave very much which puzzled Selena. Dave may approach Sherlock, but instead of offering his hand like most people would, he'd watch him curiously, observing him.

Throughout most of the day Selena got to know the crew 221B better, having little chats with them and asking questions. Selena picked up details about their lives, interesting things that they've done and events that happened to them. She divulged from bits of information their likes and dislikes on one or two habits of theirs. They certainly were an interesting bunch of people – John liked a little danger to keep his life exciting, but also takes any chance he can get to take a woman out on a date – Selena decided it would be a good idea to be wary of him. Although, Sherlock remained a mystery; he spoke very little making it hard for Selena to find out anything about him. All she got was that he liked to be well dressed and reads the news to try and find another case, which wasn't very much. Most of the time he seemed to be doing that deduction thing he talks about on his website, finding out what he can about Selena without saying a word.

By afternoon, Selena and Sherlock began having a more serious conversation about having her as his assistant. They sat opposite each other on the comfy chairs, Sherlock in his signature thoughtful pose with his hands clasped together, his eyes looking over the psychologist, observing and deducing. Selena sipped her tea feeling extremely self conscious. John sat at the desk on his laptop, busying himself with writing the blog his therapist suggested he should do. He would certainly have a lot to write about living with the world's only consulting detective.

Sherlock broke the silence between them, "Yes, I think you'll make a good assistant," he said confidently. "You have proved to be almost as clever as me, which is a good start. It would be nice having another clever person around."

John shot a vicious glare at Sherlock from across the desk. If looks could kill, that one would at least seriously injure.

"The cleverness stops when it comes to numbers, I'm afraid. Everything else I can probably do," Selena warned about her incapability of doing anything with numbers. "My brain doesn't like them."

"We can't _all_ be good at everything I suppose. I'll leave you to the psychological behavioural stuff for a start while you acclimatise, since that is what you are best at. How good are you with self defence?"

The question came as quite a surprise to Selena. Why would she ever need to be good at self defence? "Erm...well, I'm not the naturally aggressive type. That would be Dave's speciality."

"I can see you'll have no problem defending yourself. The grass stains on your jeans and the way you dress say you did a lot of outdoor work, and that you dress for ease of movement rather than appearances. You're also well toned on the arms, so whatever you used to do required your physical strength. Doing what we do, we're bound to make a few enemies, so you may have to do a bit of fighting every now and then."

Selena almost lost her words, "Yep, well I was going to say that I am stronger than I look. Anything else you'd like to point out?" Sherlock appeared to enjoy showing off his deduction skills, so Selena allowed him to revel in his brilliance for a little longer.

It took a moment, but only a short one for Sherlock to deduce something else, "The calluses on the tips of your fingers suggest you play a string instrument and going by your style in your hair and choice of clothes, I'd say it's a guitar. Am I right?"

"Yep, everything right. I'd give you an A* if I could grade it," Selena complimented him.

He smiled a little and resumed asking more questions, "What about weapons?"

"I can handle guns. Smaller ones are easier for me, but have fired a rifle before." Sherlock nodded, satisfied, and John looked at her quite surprised. "Best hide the gun from you as well," he murmured.

"And one more thing, how do you feel about the violin?" Sherlock asked less seriously.

Selena raised her eyebrows at him, "Erm...it's alright as long as it's played properly. Why?"

"I play it when I'm thinking and sometimes I don't talk for days on end, would that bother you?"

"Not at all, it'll be nice to have a break every now and then," Selena teased.

"Excellent. Welcome to the team."

"Both of us?" Selena referred to her companion, and Dave looked up at the detective expectantly.

"Both of you."

Selena held back from being too overt in her happiness and giving Sherlock a massive hug and instead celebrated quietly with a party in her head, "Yay!"

"You're going to have to stay with us. I need you to watch what I do so you can learn."

"Ok, but aren't there only two rooms?"

"John will share with you."

Selena and John both turned to each other and said, "What?"

"I can always sleep on the sofa, I have slept in much worse places before," Selena looked back on one of her university evenings, trying to convince Sherlock that she didn't _need _to share John's room.

"The sofa isn't very comfy to sleep on; your shoulder told me that after you had a nap. Mrs Hudson has a spare mattress that you can use, but no actual bed, but that can be sorted out later."

"Okay...Oh there's something else; I have this thing, cyclothymia. It's a form of bipolar disorder. My moods can sometimes change dramatically from being quite euphoric to depressive, but it's not as bad as in bipolar 1, it just leads to a little...disruption – nothing to get too worried about. Is that a problem?"

"Not at all," Sherlock rose from his chair, "It will be quite interesting."

On that note, Selena went about sorting her living arrangements. With John's help, she dragged a single mattress along with a duvet and pillow to John's room, and made it as much as possible to resemble her bed at home – placed lengthways against a wall with the head end furthest away from the door. Dave decided he would sleep downstairs on the chair in the hallway, possibly to guard against any intruders that thought it would be a good idea to break in.

Selena brought her small suitcase upstairs and placed what clothes she brought with her in John's wardrobe that she also shared with him. The wardrobe was more than big enough to accommodate all their clothes so that was no problem. Since Sherlock wanted her to stay with him almost all the time to learn, Selena had to call her mother to send some of her stuff in the post. Going to get it herself would have cost time and money which Selena didn't have much of now that she moved into Baker Street. She only asked for the essentials, what she couldn't do without; clothes, one or two books that might prove to be useful, her laptop which had almost everything she could ever need on it, mostly music and of course, her guitar. Everything else she didn't really need or could be easily replaced. She also asked for Dave's two favourite things; his ball and tug of war toy. She and Dave shared fond memories with those items, not to mention it will stop Dave from becoming bored.

Psychologist and ex-police dog settled in very well over the following days. The possessions that Selena asked for her mother to send arrived in a medium sized cardboard box, the guitar separate in its case with a 'fragile' sticker on it. She unpacked the box, placing clothes in the wardrobe, books on the bookshelf and placed her guitar neatly in the corner of the sitting room wear Sherlock kept his violin and Selena sent her the money it would have cost in return. Her guitar was an acoustic one, the front of the body, which had a few stickers slapped onto it to make more personal to Selena, was a natural pale brown colour, while the sides and back were darker with a slight reddish tint. The neck and head wear a dark brown, almost black and shiny like the rest of the instrument. Selena didn't usually like playing with an audience but would occasionally demonstrate her musical abilities to Sherlock, who would also do the same with his violin. They both played different types of music, but nevertheless, they still enjoyed listening to each other's talents.

Selena would often take Dave out into Regent's Park which wasn't far from Baker Street and allow him time to run around in the open place and greenery which he enjoyed very much. She also became like an au pair to the lads, making tea, cooking, shopping and cleaning, because they couldn't seem to be bothered to do it themselves and that it made her feel more comfortable. This was when all was quiet and not much was going on in crimes and solving cases. The only thing that would disrupt Selena's usual duties would be one of Sherlock's weird experiments. It seemed that he needed pastimes that required thought, such as experiments and solving problems to prevent himself from becoming bored and his mind become restless, almost like one of Selena's hypomanic phases. Test tubes and Bunsen burners will cover the table, specimens of body parts in the fridge and chemicals in jars often in cupboards where there was food. Selena resorted to giving Sherlock his own personal cupboard and shelf in the fridge to keep all his experiment stuff, and a box where he should put equipment that isn't being used. Sherlock did question this behaviour, saying that he only appointed her as his assistant, not housekeeper. Selena could only reply with, "It's like a buy one, get one free offer; hire an assistant and you get au pair free! Besides, like doing domestic stuff."

The only problems Selena experienced were sleeping and finance. John had an annoying habit of snoring and occasionally had nightmares. Selena knew that he couldn't help it and tried to put up with it, but there came a point when she couldn't take it any longer. She went downstairs early one morning in her pyjamas with dark circles under her eyes and found Sherlock sat at the kitchen table, fully dressed looking at something through the microscope. Selena thought that he either got up extremely early or didn't actually sleep the night before, both of which were rather common. To remedy her lack of sleep, Selena asked politely, "Sherlock, would you mind if I moved into your room? John snores and has nightmares and it's driving insane."

Sherlock looked up from the microscope and hesitated for a moment, "Of course, if it will help you sleep better."

"Thank you," Selena sighed relieved, "I'm probably going to be sleeping for most of today, since I haven't actually had the recommended eight hours for days now. Surprised I'm not dead."

Sherlock chuckled at Selena's comment as she went back upstairs to remove her bed from John's room and relocate into Sherlock's room. She set up her bed in a similar way to before, opposite Sherlock's own bed and beneath a window. His room was surprisingly tidy. She expected to see something similar to the mess that was currently in the kitchen and a few more burns where things might have exploded. The only things on the walls were a poster of the periodic table and some Japanese thing that Selena couldn't figure out. There she slept for most of that day until she felt she had made up for sleep she had lost.

The other problem was money; Selena got by on Jobseeker's Allowance which only gave her about £50 a week, although she kind of had a job but apparently apprentice consulting detective doesn't count as a job, much to Selena's annoyance. John didn't have a job either, and Sherlock only got paid if whoever he was doing a job for offered him money for it, except money didn't pose any interest for him which often led to him not accepting it.

Once he was satisfied that Selena had settled in, Sherlock began lessons in order to teach Selena and set her up for being a detective. They started with the basic things that Selena was weak on such as her mapping skills and natural aggression. To overcome these weaknesses, Sherlock would take Selena around London showing her the streets and landmarks that would help her to determine where she was if she ever got lost. He also made sure that she absorbed as much information as possible so that once they got back home, she would be able to recite as much about their journey as possible. It wasn't an easy task for Selena but she did slowly improve.

Sherlock also thought of the idea that aggression is encouraged by frustration, and so attempted to bring out Selena's more aggressive side by making her feel frustrated. Selena, being a psychologist understood the principle and realised that Sherlock was using her as a participant in an experiment. Selena would have to do a little experimenting of her own one day. To stimulate frustration and thus, aggression, Sherlock would deliberately do things to annoy Selena, such as leaving his equipment out on purpose, making a lot of noise while she was trying to sleep or just behaving like a general moron. Once agitated enough, Selena would have to channel her aggression into either verbal aggression or physical aggression, which consisted of shouting abuse at either John or Sherlock, squeezing a stress ball or firing John's gun at target, much to displeasure of Mrs Hudson. With the correct amount of frustration, Selena would be more aggressive than she was previously, but too aggressive that she became antisocial. All the while, Sherlock would record data from Selena's reactions and behaviours. Once he decided that enough of the 'treatment' had been administered, he placed Selena in a fake situation, without her knowing, with John posing as a burglar breaking into the flat. Dave was kept out of the way so that he didn't interfere. Selena reacted as expected, first warning the burglar verbally and with the threat of a weapon. The second step was to see if she could use her naturally occurring strength and newfound aggression to overpower the burglar into submission. This was done superbly by knocking him off guard with a blow to the stomach, tackling him and pinning him to the floor. Sherlock concluded that his experiment had worked and that it is possible to encourage a certain amount of aggressive behaviour in a person, at the cost of causing his friend a few bruises.

Once the basic lessons were finished, Selena would move onto the more complicated stuff - the deductions and the forensic stuff that she will likely have to use in a case, or, if something interesting turns up, her first full case.

Dave continually tried to interact with Sherlock since he and Selena had moved in, but to no avail. It wasn't until Sherlock actually expressed his confusion to Selena that some interaction occurred. "Why does he keep doing that?" he asked.

Selena peered over her laptop screen, "He's waiting for you offer your scent."

"What? Why?"

"It shows to him that you are his friend and he'll be able to recognise you by smell," Selena explained as if it was something everyone should know. "Have you never had a pet before?"

"No, it never interested me."

"Not even as a child?"

"Mummy didn't like animals. She said they were dirty and we weren't allowed them, so I never had to desire to keep a pet."

"You are missing out on so much."

Sherlock continued to observe Dave, as if pondering what to do. After a few moments, he offered his hand to Dave, who cautiously sniffed taking in Sherlock's scent, cataloguing into recognisable scents of other people. Dave licked Sherlock's hand in thanks. Sherlock seemed surprised by this – pleasantly surprised. He hesitantly began stroking Dave's coal black fur, the Alsatian wagging his tail in contentment. Dave rested his head on Sherlock's lap and Sherlock smiled involuntarily from the effect that stroking an animal has on people. Neither Selena nor Sherlock needed to say anything to understand that he quite liked Dave and would soon consider him as a friend. Selena smiled, pleased that she managed to solve Dave's problem and bring Sherlock a new companion both at the same time. Dave now considered the people at 221B his pack and would be as sociable and loyal to them as a wolf would with its own wild pack, not to mention how useful Dave could be in solving cases with strength and senses like his own.


	6. Lessons in Deduction and Stick Games

There were many things that made Sherlock so successful as a detective and what made him stand out among all the ordinary detectives; his willingness not to get distracted from brain and thinking by things such as sentiment, due to his lack of empathy. Selena believed him when he corrected Anderson about being a sociopath rather than a psychopath. There was so much potential for a case study there! And also, his outstanding ability to observe everything and build up a picture from what he observes. This ability came naturally to him which was what made it look so easy, but for anyone else, it would be very difficult to master. Sherlock intended to introduce Selena to this method and teach it to her to the best of his ability so that she may understand it and see how well she gets on with using the technique. He didn't expect her to be as good as he was, but if someone else could use the technique, it would be useful to him as an outside eye may find something that he missed, though he believed that was highly unlikely.

Selena entered the kitchen one morning in her penguin pyjamas to make a morning brew. Sherlock sat in his chair reading the morning newspaper that Dave stereotypically brings up to them every morning once it is pushed through the letterbox. He looked to have only got up a little earlier than Selena as he wore his blue dressing gown over his own pyjamas. "Good morning," Sherlock acknowledged her presence.

"Morning," Selena grumbled a reply. She needed a few minutes to wake up properly before she could have any chance of holding a decent conversation. "Tea?"

"Yes, please."

Selena chucked a teabag in the teapot, filled the kettle with water and switched it on to boil. John must have still been asleep, since the previous night was a late one.

"We're going out today," Sherlock announced, not looking away from the article he was reading.

"Oh? Where to? Found an interesting case?"

"Lessons."

Even the word itself made Selena groan with dread. These lessons drained her energy and in some cases made her want to pull her hair out from the stress. "What about this time? More road mapping? The language of codes? Or is it more aggression conditioning? If I had chosen to pull the trigger instead of punching him, I could have killed John!"

"Yes, but you didn't."

"That's not the point!"

"It is part of the point. It showed that you have moral principles that you go by. You wouldn't have used the weapon unless it was completely necessary and there were no other options. Besides, if you had known it was John, you wouldn't have behaved the way you did. You should know that as a psychologist; demand characteristics."

Selena sighed, not willing to get into an argument about it. "Alright, I get it. So what are we doing today?"

"Deduction."

"Ah, the interesting stuff, finally."

"Once you've eaten and got dressed we'll head out."

Selena made herself an omelette for breakfast to use up the eggs they somehow managed to accumulate, while Sherlock showered and dressed. He wouldn't have any breakfast, bent on the idea that digesting food slowed down the functioning of his brain. In some ways, Selena agreed, but the energy acquired from food was necessary to provide energy to think. She prevented themselves from getting caught up in an in depth discussion about energy transfer and cellular respiration at nine o'clock in the morning. Dave was given his breakfast after Selena ate hers which consisted mostly of chicken. Selena would rather feed him proper meat or edible remains from the previous evening's dinner than the processed stuff that came in packets and tins. His ancestors managed perfectly well that way so why shouldn't Dave be able to? Selena occupied the bathroom after Sherlock, washing and getting dressed. Once they were both clean, dressed and in some cases fed, Sherlock took Selena and Dave, who insisted on joining them a little further along Baker Street and sat outside a Starbucks despite the chill of the weather. Sherlock began explaining what they will be doing. "This looks like a good spot. Not too crowded and a few still targets; should be adequate. I'm trying to get you into the technique of observing people and things, and telling me about them just from what you observe."

"Okay...So what exactly is it that you want me to do?" Selena was just a little confused about this plan.

"Show me your current skills in deduction so that I know how we can get you to improve. You've seen what I do, go ahead."

"I've only ever _seen _you do it; I don't know what it is what actually goes on in that crazy brain of yours. Demo please?"

Sherlock exhaled and began scanning the surroundings for their first specimen. He then gestured behind Selena to young man sat at the table next to theirs. Selena turned her chair 90 degrees so that she may also be able to observe the man in her peripheral vision. Sherlock observed the stranger's appearance, his little ticks that made up his personality and the things that could suggest details about his life. All this occurred in a matter of seconds.

"When he ordered coffee he spoke with a Scottish accent, which obviously says he is Scottish. There's animal hair on his left arm and the front of his body; it's too straight to be human hair and definitely not his own, so the hair belongs to a cat or dog, more likely a cat since the hair is only present on his upper body where he would have been holding it. If they belonged to a dog the hair would more than likely be lower down. There's a smudge of black ink on the side of his left hand which suggests he's left handed because the ink hadn't dried while he continued to write. His leg is also shaking involuntarily which indicates stress and restlessness. He looks to be in his late teens or early twenties going by the state of his skin, and a man that age is probably at university and also going by the fact that he writes a lot at a fast pace and is under stress."

Selena looked at the man in the corner of her eye, attempting to not appear suspicious. She didn't notice all those details until Sherlock pointed them out. _There is no way I could do it that fast, _Selena sighed inwardly, _this could be a long lesson._

"I hope that was an adequate demonstration."

Selena chuckled, "A bit more than adequate, I think."

"Okay, now you know what happens, it's your turn."

Selena felt a knot tie itself up in her stomach. There was no way she could deduce as well as Sherlock could, at least not at this point, and she was nervous about making a fool of herself or appearing stupid. The rational and adult side of her mind took over and encouraged her that it didn't matter how bad her performance was, as this was only a test run to see how she could improve if it really was awful. Selena took a deep breath, looking for someone to test her skills on, turning her chair back round to its previous position. A woman sat to her left caught her eye. Her hair was copper coloured and her skin had no imperfections, which was possibly due to the work of make-up. Selena took a few minutes to observe the woman and absorb the details about her appearance and body language. Once she was content that she gathered enough information, she breathed deeply, calming her nerves and began to describe her. "That woman," she gestured towards the red-headed female, "Erm...Her make-up was done immaculately, her clothes show off her figure well, so she's gone through a lot of effort to make herself look good, so she's probably meeting a bloke. She's slouching with her arms crossed which says that she's bored and fed up and she's constantly checking her phone so I'm guessing she's been waiting here for a while checking for any missed calls or texts, so maybe the guy stood her up."

"Good, anything else?" Sherlock encouraged Selena.

There was a long pause while Selena took a few more moments to observe more details. "She's pretty well off going by the clothes she's wearing; I'm sure I saw that jacket in a Joe Brown's catalogue a few weeks back that was over £50. And I recognise the perfume she's wearing," Selena sniffed a couple of times, taking in the scent, "My mum used to wear it, that was rather expensive too. And that's all I've got. How did I do?"

Sherlock smirked, evidently impressed, "You did well. Most people just go by what they can see, but you also paid attention to what you could smell which is a very promising start indeed. I think you just need practice since there's nothing I can actually teach you. With practise you'll get quicker which is always good for when you're at a crime scene."

Selena glowed with satisfaction at her promising performance and a sense of pride washed over her. She and Sherlock relocated to Regent's Park and passed the time by practising their skills making deductions on more difficult targets; people who were a fair distance away and those who were moving which gave Selena a time limit. She found that having less time to think made her observe everything at a quicker pace. Dave entertained himself by chewing up dead branches that had fallen from the trees. Occasionally, he'd offer one to Selena asking her to play with him only to have his request go unfulfilled. Eventually he realised that his mistress was too busy to play and instead offered his stick to Sherlock who didn't seem very busy; he wasn't pulling the concentration face that Selena does when in deep thought. Again Sherlock seemed confused about this gesture. Dave had been sat waiting patiently for five minutes when Selena stepped in and introduced Sherlock to the game involving a person, a dog and an unfortunate stick, "Basically, you pick it up and throw it." She demonstrated by taking the stick from Dave's jaws and throwing it as far as she could. Dave charged after it, his tail wagging franticly, picked it up in his jaws and loped back to Selena and Sherlock.

"I don't see what this is supposed to achieve."

"It doesn't for you, but it keeps Dave occupied and gives him exercise." Selena chuckled at how intelligent Sherlock was in contrast to his limited knowledge of keeping an animal.

"What?" Sherlock asked puzzled.

"If you're teaching me this deduction technique, I think I'll have to enlighten you about Dave here, since you're so oblivious."

"Why?"

"Think of it as me returning the favour. Besides, Dave's friendship might end up saving your life one day."

Sherlock quickly changed the topic of conversation, gesturing to a man running from one end of the park to the other. "I'd say you've got about three minutes besides he moves out of sight," Sherlock informed as he took the stick from Dave's mouth and threw it, just as Selena demonstrated.

Selena glanced quickly at the runner and began talking while thinking in order to conserve time. Her deductions processed much quicker than the previous time showing Sherlock how she had improved. It seemed that the man lived alone, had a heart condition and also came down with depression after recent family problems but tries to continue a normal life and staying healthy.

This carried on for the rest of the afternoon, Sherlock and Selena having a few little chit-chats between deductions, and Dave introducing a new game which involved both competitors holding one end of the stick and pulling as hard as they can. The sky grew darker as the sun began to set behind the horizon and their stomachs growled hungrily. Selena checked her watch for the time which was half past five. "We've been sat here all day," she remarked.

"It would seem so."

Selena rose from the bench the two of them had been sat on since this morning and stuffed her hands in her pockets as the evening chill suddenly enveloped her. Sherlock followed, accompanied by a growl of protest from his stomach, which didn't surprise Selena since he hadn't eaten anything all day. "What do you guys want for dinner?" Selena asked; the question that she asked daily that never received a proper response, "I can make a fish pie? It'll taste loads better than that pre-prepared stuff that you used to get from Tesco."

Sherlock made no verbal response but smiled at the thought of decent food, only making himself hungrier. It had been a long time since he ate a proper homemade meal until Selena arrived. The detective and his apprentice began walking home, discussing their favourite food and things they liked to make. "I might ask Mrs Hudson if we can have a veg patch in the back garden," Selena thought out loud.

"What on earth for?"

"Why do you think? To grow veg!"

"And what's wrong with buying veg?"

"Growing them is cheaper and they taste nicer. I know the difference between home grown and supermarket vegetables."

"But then you'll spend more time tending to the veg than helping me," Sherlock whinged.

Selena giggled, amused by his assumption, "No I won't, I'm sure I'll find time to help you out along with tidying up your mess, making you dinner and spending time with Dave."

"Not if I get Dave to dig them up," taunted Sherlock.

"No you won't."

"Okay, maybe I won't, but only because I can't."

"Ha! I win," Selena teased Sherlock triumphantly, remembering the war that they silently declared against each other during the taxi driver case.

"We'll see about that."

A playful and somewhat childish mood came over Selena as she gave Sherlock a friendly nudge in his right arm, disturbing his balance, despite the difference in height and weight between them, "Give it your best shot, detective Holmes," she taunted him in return as they arrived home at 221B.


End file.
